


i have to say (hello and goodbye)

by Sotong_sotong



Category: Haikyuu!!
Genre: Angst, Hurt No Comfort, Iwaizumi and Oikawa go to different universities, M/M, Post-Canon, SASO 2016, and this is how they drift apart, mentions of Hanamaki and Matsukawa - Freeform
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2016-06-01
Updated: 2016-06-01
Packaged: 2018-07-11 16:29:44
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,347
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/7060438
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Sotong_sotong/pseuds/Sotong_sotong
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>“Iwa-chan?”</p>
<p>“What is it now, Kusokawa?”</p>
<p>“Did you know that diamonds are forever?”</p>
<p> </p>
<p>(aka remember when Iwaizumi and Oikawa ended up going to different universities in different cities and they grew distant? And Oikawa not realizing until it's been months?)</p>
            </blockquote>





	i have to say (hello and goodbye)

**Author's Note:**

> a prompt fill for SASO 2016, bonus round 1: memory. the prompt was: ["Remember when Iwaizumi and Oikawa ended up going to different universities in different cities and they grew distant? And Oikawa not realizing until it's been months?](http://sportsanime.dreamwidth.org/13489.html?thread=4418225#cmt4418225)

Being together is truly an option, but it doesn’t promise a forever.

(Not the one that Tooru wants, no, Tooru’s brand of _forever_ is a weight next to him on the futon, a voice pleased to order agedashi tofu at Chindouchuu, and a smack upside his head when he really deserves it.)

 

*

 

On the day before they leave for their respective universities, Oikawa slips into Iwaizumi’s room and watches him pack. His best friend’s never been one for hoarding or anxious _what if I don’t have this, what if I need that’s’_ so he’s only got four bags out. One’s red, the other’s blue, the last two are grey. 

They all have Godzilla keychains on them, and Tooru feels a bit better at that.

(Because he’s the one who gifted them to Iwaizumi in the first place.)

“Are you done with your stuff already?” Iwaizumi doesn’t look up as he says this, messily stuffing shirts and jeans into the bag nearest to him. 

Oikawa clicks his tongue, and moves over to his side so he can actually help Iwaizumi pack decently. Crumpled shirts are a nightmare to face after long travels, really. “Iwa-chan, stop being a brute to your own clothes! Here, just do this.”

He grabs one of the shirts from the bag and shows Iwaizumi a trick to folding the clothes fast but neatly. Iwaizumi nods his head, clapping slowly and looking on in wonder as Tooru demonstrates it with another shirt again, and again, and again—

He stops to throw the hoodie he’s holding towards Iwaizumi’s face. “Why am I the only one folding all your stuff!? You should be doing it too!”

Iwaizumi splutters as he pulls the thing off, doesn’t miss a beat when he lunges to ruffle Tooru’s hair roughly. “What the hell was that for?! I would if you hadn’t just kept going on but you did and you seemed happy doing it so—“

Tooru reaches out and pinches Iwaizumi’s nose.

(His hands are warm on his head; Tooru doesn’t want to register anything else.)

He lets go when he sees Iwaizumi’s face darken: that’s usually the cue for some smack or punch, and one form of tough love usually leads to another. Tooru, very much so, would like to avoid that. “Fine, fine! Just, grab that and let’s finish up. Time and tide waits for no man, Iwa-chan, not even a good-looking one like me.”

The snort that comes to greet those last few words is almighty but Iwaizumi lets up to comply all the same. It’s quiet for a bit as they get back to work.

It’s a little too quiet in fact.

Tooru sighs.

“Iwa-chan?”

“What is it now, Kusokawa?”

“Did you know that diamonds are forever?”

“Isn’t it just the title of that one James Bond song?”

Tooru shifts, hooking his chin on Iwaizumi’s shoulder, takes in the view of his jaw and curious eyes, before answering, “There’s that. But diamonds, Iwa-chan, are made of these teeny tiny carbon atoms. They stick to each other so well that it’s a lot of work to actually break them down.”

Iwaizumi look a bit harder at him. Still, he inclines his head for Tooru to continue. “That so?’

He closes his eyes. Hums softly. Wonderingly. “They’re linked together, so much so they can never be apart. Unless some really large heat or pressure forces them to.”

“Stop beating around the bush, Oikawa. What do you really mean behind that?”

Iwaizumi’s always so quick to see through him. As usual, it’s both a blessing and a curse, and there’s nothing Tooru can do to change that. He bites his lower lip, says, “We’ll be okay right, Iwa-chan? Even when you’re at Kanto and I’ll be in Tokyo.”

Iwaizumi rolls his eyes, flicking Tooru’s forehead with his fingers. It’s done with a soft kind of fondness, though. He half wishes Iwaizumi hadn’t. It makes it so much harder not to hope.

“Of course, idiot. We’re partners, aren’t we? I don’t know what’s going on inside your head, but our friendship’s stronger than that.”

He whacks Tooru’s shoulders, insisting they get done before the evening’s gone because he wants them to go out to Chindouchuu with the other Seijou third years for one last time.

One last _hurrah_ to Seijou, to Miyagi, and whatever else now in the past.

Again, Tooru just hums. They resume packing.

 

*

 

Dinner is fun. The boys are loud and assholes to each other, such are their normal antics. Hanamaki steals some of Iwaizumi’s gyoza so they end up in a spontaneous chopstick tussle when he attempts to snatch them back. Matsukawa records the whole spectacle with his cellphone, claiming it’s for posterity ( _”What you really mean is blackmail, Mattsun.”_ ) and Tooru—

Tooru watches them all.

 

(hello, goodbye )

 

*

 

The next day, Iwaizumi and Tooru are at the railway station.

Iwaizumi, with his four bags and Godzilla keychains, is on the platform opposite to his because he’s heading to the east. Tsukuba Daigaku is a well known university in Kanto, and Tooru honestly is proud of him for making it there. 

Tokyo is the heart of Japan and that’s where Tooru will study, playing for Tokyo Daigaku on a sports scholarship.

(Even in these last few moments, he doesn’t get to stand beside Iwaizumi. He’s so near, yet so far, soon further.)

An automated voice rings through the air as the wind around them picks up.

Their trains slide in beside each other; he doesn’t even get to wave goodbye before Iwaizumi disappears from view.

He gets in and that’s that.

They’ve gone.

(Diamonds are forever, Tooru wishes he and Iwaizumi could be too.)

 

*

 

When he reaches Tokyo, he calls Iwaizumi immediately.

When he’s done with his first day and volleyball practice at university, he texts him too.

Tooru texts him almost every day after that, and that’s good.

It’s good.

(Iwaizumi takes his time but he always gets back to Tooru in the end, and that’s what really matters.)

 

*

 

Slowly though, timidly, as cracks are wont to do, they slip and begin to show.

Volleyball matches and university coursework start flooding Tooru’s schedule, and Iwaizumi’s sports medicine degree eats a lot out of him too. The social life in Tokyo as well is _exhausting_ with people buzzing everywhere, flitting around at goukons or bars, and they’re not bad company; they’re just not who Tooru would like to spend most of his time around.

Most days he gets back tired, flops down for a quick rest, then, he’s up again to make food, study or analyse match videos of other universities for information compiling. 

Most days his phone doesn’t light up with a text from _Godzilla maniac-chan!!_ like it previously did.

And Tooru doesn’t really notice.

 

(to you, who didn’t let go  
of my hand even though I’m selfish,  
i have to say—)

 

*

 

It hits hims five months later: how the two of them aren’t really in touch with each other that often anymore.

How he, in weeks, hasn’t heard Iwaizumi’s voice go _"Kusokawa, have you had food yet?”_ or _”This subject really sucks, damn, I don’t wanna fail it”_ or _“How are you, idiot?”_ or, or, or—

_”Hello.”_

When he grabs his phone, his hands are shaking, and it actually takes him a good 10 minutes before he finds Iwaizumi’s contact.

(He used to have it on speed dial but he doesn’t know what happened to make it just not there anymore.)

(Tooru doesn’t know anything.)

He dials it. Waits for the line to pick up.

Nobody answers.

Listens to it go to Iwaizumi’s voicemail.

(Tooru doesn’t know anything at all.)

 

“Iwa-chan, do you still remember that diamonds are forever?”

 

*

 

It’s the silence at the end of the voicemail that goes on forever.

 

*

hey, talk to me about meaningless things   
to you, who listened   
to my voice that had rotted to the core,   
i have to say hello and goodbye.   
you’re no longer here, but i can hear a sparrow’s voice   
hello, goodbye   
I start to break up this rotten voice myself   
hello, goodbye   
i said it.

**Author's Note:**

> I wrote this while listening to ["HELLO GOODBYE"](http://fuckyeahgalileogalilei-blog.tumblr.com/post/27623567125/randombubblegum-translation-request-this-time) by Galileo Galilei so the lyrics at the bottom are from it.


End file.
